INSIGHTS FROM INDUSTRY
ARE YOU DROWNING IN ADMISSION PAPERWORK? TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER
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e know customer expectations get higher every year, so as we move into 2022, it makes sense for us to use new technology to enhance the customer experience.
Every day we see families drowning in application forms when they should be spending time reassuring their loved ones. We see aged care providers printing, scanning and entering data when they should be welcoming their new resident. The system is tiresome and outdated. More Australians are entering into aged care than 10 years ago. However, permanent admissions have only increased by less than 1 per cent, whereas respite care admissions have increased by 34 per cent. There’s a concern that this national occupancy average will continue to fall over the coming years as more people struggle to navigate their way into residential aged care. We know that many people are already apprehensive about the aged care system. Combine this with the confusion they face trying to understand not only the fees and charges, but also the delivery of care, and our industry will continue to see increased financial stress on providers. The good news: we have the power to change this. We can streamline the admission process and adapt to changing technologies to meet our customers’ increasing expectations and facilitate a smoother transition into care. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the time it takes to manage the process of securing a suitable aged care home for family members is measured in working weeks, rather than working hours. We as an industry need to ease the burden. Let’s give our customers a simple way to educate themselves, apply to a home, and admit their loved one into care. It’s almost 2022, we shouldn’t be giving them an admission pack and saying, ‘read all of these fact sheets and brochures, then fill in these 56 pages of admission forms and drop them back to us, before we can admit your loved one’. In our experience, a large proportion of those moving into residential care are blindly placed into a local home, wherever the first bed vacancy arises. These customers—people with rich life stories—are given a brief description of the aged care home and often have little knowledge as to why they’ve been
placed, how long for, how much they will be charged, Technology can help make and are unaware of the care entry into aged care easier. and services they should be receiving from the aged care home. Research has revealed that older Australians are also often unaware of their rights and entitlements, and that people using aged care services fear retribution if they complain. Not only do we need to modernise our admission processes, but we need to ensure our customers are being given clear, easy to digest information. There’s no denying we need a radical redesign of the way seniors enter into residential care. Luckily the technology that our industry needs, already exists. Find Aged Care has developed an online platform that provides seamless, transparent access to care. Using new technology, we take the potential resident through a comprehensive application process. The self-directed tutorials educate users on fees and finances, their rights and what to expect from their new home. This knowledge lays the foundation for transparent conversations with providers, thus improving the customer experience and reducing complaints and concerns. Find Aged Care has established the right metrics and is working to ensure positive change is achieved for the industry as a whole. We’re here to help aged care providers fill their vacant beds, process admission documentation in an easy to manage platform, achieve occupancy targets, and access detailed reporting to measure progress and success. Our goal at Find Aged Care is to help senior Australians find care that is right for them, and to showcase the great care and services aged care homes provide. Let’s work together as an industry to streamline our admission processes, enhance the customer experience, and utilise technology to make everyone’s life easier. Mary Baumann is Director, Find Aged Care. For more information visit www.findagedcare.com.au
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